The Hindu       07.01.2015    

MCC launches drive to mop up revenue

Mayor R. Lingappa and officials of the Mysore City Corporation verifying
trade licences of retailers in Mysuru on Tuesday.— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

The Mysore City Corporation (MCC) has launched a drive
to issue and renew trading licences of business establishments operating
in the city.

It will also crackdown on those operating without a valid trading licence as part of its efforts to mop up revenue.

Mayor
R. Lingappa launched the drive from Saraswathipuram and pointed out
that of the 457 business establishments in his ward, only 65 had trade
licences, while 75 had not renewed their licenses issued last year.

The remaining traders were operating without a valid license and causing loss to the MCC, he said.

He
cautioned that establishments operating without a valid trade licence
would be closed and a few shops operating without license were shut down
to reinforce the MCC’s seriousness about the issue.

Mr. Lingappa said that as per the official estimate, there are nearly 21,800 business establishments in the city.

“But,
I have sought for a fresh survey and expect the number to be between
35,000 and 40,000, he said. The Assistant Commissioners in the MCC’s
nine revenue divisions have been directed to update the figures. The
licence fee ranges from Rs. 500 to Rs. 10,000 per year.

The ongoing drive also aims to collect property tax from the public for the financial year 2014–15.

The
property tax target for the current fiscal is Rs. 85 crore from the
1.76 lakh registered properties under the tax net. Besides, there are
19,750 revenue site properties which will yield additional revenue of
Rs. 7 crore.

The Mayor was accompanied by senior officials of the MCC and the police.

The drive also aims to collect property tax from the public for the financial year 2014–15